Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Dear Everybody,

I have uploaded a screenshot of my welcome page into my Picture Gallery for your consideration.

This is my first effort, and I am not completely happy with it.  I want clean, uncluttered and contemporary-elegant, yet memorable.  That is the reason for the "Enter" button (the calla lily).  I know a lot of professional site designers frown on those; however, I don`t like the look of so much text on the home page of a site.  I want the site to be soothing, organized, and present a minimum of distractions.

The page is not finished yet, but I have made an outline of  the site`s navigational structure and content.  I just want to see what you all think before I proceed...

Thanks so much for helping me with this; I look forward to learning from all of you!!


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"Ask not, know not." --Me

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"Ask not, know not." --Me

Either you want to "look good" or "make money", there`s no in-between...unless you can afford to look good and not be concerned about loss revenue...

The less clicks the better. Why force someone to click on an "enter button" when they should be able to look on the site and determine where they want to go within a click or two at maximum? If I click the "enter" button, I can only go where "YOU" direct me --- what if that`s not where I want to go?

"Welcome to Azurai"

Most people won`t even know what that is --- at least have some content on the page so they`ll at least know what`s going on and what the site is about. If they have to figure it out, they`ll leave. Why should they stay on the site and continue through? "Welcome to Azurai" doesn`t compell me to want to seek further. Don`t use precious real estate with plain messages like that --- every thing should be constructed with the end in mind (and that`s to get the visitor to make a purchase --- or optin if that`s the strategy).

I assume your goal is to make sales and not win awards for fancy, creative, or artistic twists and turns on the site. You`ve got a few seconds to `sell` your visitor on the idea to stick around and take a look around the site.

Without being able to see the rest of the site, it`s difficult to really give you more suggestions, but that front page needs a lot more work.

Your idea of "Fine Frangrances" can be totally different to your prospects and without defining your "Unique Selling Proposition", we`ll never know what it is you`re selling on your site based on your homepage:

Let`s see...

One can assume you`re selling "Aromatherapy scents and oils", which is a fine fragrance...once can assume you`re selling cologne and perfume, candles, body oils, etc...

Don`t try to get to fancy here --- keep it simple (as you suggested).

Cartess

 

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Website Startup Coach: Step-by-Step Coaching to Help You Build a Profitable Business Online!

Thank you so much, Cartess!  The validity of your explanation outweighs my concern about clutter. I will add content to my Welcome page ASAP!

It is so easy to assume that others can read your mind, isn`t it?  As a fragrance designer, I assume that everyone knows what is meant by "Fine fragrances".  I know what happens when one "assumes"...

I was basically running on 2 primary trains of thought (which I would very much like you to correct if they are erroneous).  The first one was that my site wouldn`t just be stumbled upon; whoever was there would be genuinely interested in fragrances, would be soothed and intrigued by the look of the site, and would naturally want to explore it.  The second train of thought was that the more elegant the look of my site, the more credibility would be lent to my products (as a fragrance designer, I am supposed to have good taste, right?).  If a website looks cheap to me, I am immediately suspicious of the products and/or services it sells (and sometimes of the validity of the business itself).

Please believe me when I say this is not an argument; rather, it is an attempt to let you in on my thought process.  I really do not know anything at all about behavioral psychology as it applies to online shoppers (is there such a field??)!  I guess it shows, huh?

Would you be willing to tune in for changes every now and then and let me know what you think as I go?  I`d really enjoy hearing from you again...





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"Ask not, know not." --Me

I`d like to see a bit more contrast on the "Fine Fragrance." It`s going to be the total explanation for the mysterious name. To that end, it should be more immediately readable.

You`re also, sort of, contradicting yourself. On the one hand, you want a splash page. But on the other hand, you`re using the colored flowers at the top as navigation tabs. Which will it be?

The navigation tabs override the need for an "Enter" option. That, or they`re redundant and confusing.

I think Cartess is right---make a fundamental decision about your whole (strategic) marketing approach before developing the pages.

Do you happen to know PowerPoint? If so, you can play a whole lot faster with that, put in links if you need to, then sit back and watch a slide show. That`ll give you a nicer working environment than HTML and so on.

Apropos your two trains of thought: Although you may believe people will search you out, the fact is that a huge number of people will stumble on your site. It`s amazing how search queries can be construed by a machine mind!

The idea that when people do see your site, elegance lends credibility, I think is true. Of course that requires a meaningful definition of "elegant," but we don`t need to go there at the moment.

Another thought is that if you have a big, stone slab with your company name, you have a visual implication that your company logo is associated with the stone slab. That might lock you into a "look and feel" you won`t necessarily enjoy down the road, after having some success in visibility. Y`know?

Dear Craig,

When you said:

" You`re also, sort of, contradicting yourself. On the one hand, you want a splash page. But on the other hand, you`re using the colored flowers at the top as navigation tabs. Which will it be?

The navigation tabs override the need for an "Enter" option. That, or they`re redundant and confusing."

you were spot on.  I knew I had a hitch in my giddyup there, but I couldn`t figure out what it was.  You defined it for me!

I do work in PowerPoint; in fact, I have the basic page in a PPt file copied into multiple slides which contain their individual content outlines.  I agree with you (absolutely! heehee) that it is a great vehicle for fleshing out project of this type.

The "elegance" thing is bugging me, too.   Elegance is a matter of perception, and perception is subjective.  There are several different "genres" of elegance, also, like art deco, Victorian, contemporary, etc.  I am trying a variety of these "genres" on for size, because I don`t find that my page exactly fits my idea of elegance yet, either--it`s about the alignment of visual elegance with the elegance of my fragrance products.   This is my main conceptual stumbling block...

I`d like to extend the same invitation to you as I did to Cartess: Would you be willing to tune in for changes every now and then and let me know what you think as I go?  I value your opinion!



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"Ask not, know not." --Me

When you described your company with such passion in response to Rich in this thread, I got a mental picture in my head of what your company would be about.

I looked at your screenshot and I (absolutely!) do not get that same picture.

You sold me with your passion in your description of your company. You are not selling me with this screenshot.

I think that the huge difference between your drive and what you are projecting with this ... that this will be obvious and painful, eventually. It`s a learning experience for everyone - I know I have taken nearly 10 months to define who we are as a company, and what we do - but your first step is to promote the image you want for your company. And that screenshot just isn`t doing anything for your brand. You need to consider branding, usability, clear communicating your message, using indirect communication to give people a sense of your company, etc.

Elegance and Grace(fulness) are related terms. Both descend from Ideal. The current philosophic problem is a conflict between existentialism and idealism.

Quality is a measure of how closely something approaches its idea(L).

Elegance measure how accurate is the approach, and measures how much effort is involved. The less effort---bigger bang for the buck---the better the elegance. (A nice engineering version: Form follows Function.)

Grace is a physical measure of effort---again, the bang for the buck. Least amount of action with highest result in quality.